Percussion

Dmitry Klemenok

In the orchestra since 2022

Born in 1973 in the city of Molodechno (Belarus), he graduated with honours from the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory and its postgraduate programme (the class of A. Mikhailov, 2000).

In 1998, he took part in the Leigh Howard Stevens Summer marimba seminar. In 2000, he won the first prize at the Open All-Union Competition for Performers on Winds and Percussion Instruments. He has repeatedly participated in percussion competitions as a member of the jury. He participated in the international project BEE250VEN, dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven.

From 1994 to 1998 he worked at the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella. For more than 20 years he has worked at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, including 10 years as an concertmaster on timpani.

For 15 years he has been teaching at the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Music College in the percussion class. He regularly gives master classes.

He has performed with such conductors as Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Alexander Lazarev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Maxim Shostakovich, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Ashkenazi, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Yurovsky, Yuri Simonov, Vassily Sinaisky, Christoph Eschenbach, Krzysztof Penderecki, and others.

WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN YOUR INSTRUMENT?

I studied in Minsk, at a ten-grade school at the Belarusian Conservatory. Until the fourth grade, I had studied piano, while my older brother studied drums. I looked up to him, and I liked the percussion itself, so in the fifth grade I changed the instrument and immediately realized that it was right for me.

WHAT UNUSUAL INSTRUMENTS HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED?

Modern composers are great inventors, they write a lot of interesting music. For example, recently at a concert I was banging bricks with a hammer — the author attributed them to percussion instruments. I broke down Lego on stage a couple of times. I sawed with a real saw, and that had to be done following the scores — there were eighths, and sixteenths, and quarters. We percussionists have enough similar experiments in musicAeterna and in other projects.

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO AT HOME?

I like jazz-rock, jazz-funk, cool jazz: Al Jerro, Chick Corea, drummers Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl and their ensembles. Among my favourite bands there is Level 42, for example. When we are working on a particular piece, I listen to different recordings of this music in the car on my way to work.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?

My family and I like going out of town: picking mushrooms, stopping by the lake, making barbeque. We often visit Pushkin and Peterhof, where there are beautiful parks. If the weather does not allow us to get outdoors, then we can go to an exhibition — fortunately, in this sense there are plenty of opportunities in St. Petersburg.

musicAeterna orchestra events

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October 11, 19:00

Moscow | Zaryadye Hall

Hændel. A Dedication Ceremony to George Frideric Handel

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October 17, 22:30

Madrid | Auditorio Nacional de Música

Hændel. A Dedication Ceremony to George Frideric Handel

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October 19, 19:00

Valencia | Palau de la Música

Hændel. A Dedication Ceremony to George Frideric Handel

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October 21, 20:00

Barcelona | Palau de la Música

Hændel. A Dedication Ceremony to George Frideric Handel

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